FORT COLLINS — New warnings about meningococcal disease were issued Thursday afternoon to Colorado State University students after health officials disclosed another student was infected with the deadly bacteria.

Kurt Solomon, a 20-year-old CSU junior, was rushed to Poudre Valley Hospital by his three roommates Tuesday night after falling ill.

He was later diagnosed with meningococcal sepsis. He is stable and in fair condition, officials said.

“They (the roommates) saw immediately what had to be done, and their quick work probably saved him,” said CSU spokesman Brad Bohlander.

Larimer County health department officials said it was too early to say if Solomon’s illness is linked to a meningococcal disease outbreak that killed three Fort Collins recreational hockey players and CSU student Christina Adame. A Metropolitan State College of Denver student died from the same bacteria strain in April.

The bacteria strain causing Solomon’s infection had not yet been tested using molecular fingerprinting techniques to see if they match the prior cases, said Adrienne LeBailly, director of the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment. But the results of those tests should be known today.

“It is expected that there will be a match with our previous cases,” LeBailly said.

Both the Larimer health department and CSU issued fresh recommendations Thursday that students get a free meningococcal-disease vaccination through the CSU Health Network at the Hartshorn building. Students should get vaccinated before they leave on holiday break or while they are home on the break, Bohlander said.

Students who were vaccinated on or before May 1, 2008, should get an updated vaccine or booster, he said.

CSU also warned students to be particularly wary about sharing their saliva with other people.

“We’re heading into the holiday season and finals week, when a lot of you will be going to parties. Remember: This bacteria is transmitted through saliva, which means don’t share drinks, pipes or smokes,” Bohlander said in a campuswide public-health alert.

Solomon, who lives off campus, was vaccinated for meningococcal disease in 2006 but did not get the recommended vaccine booster made available at the recent clinics at CSU, Bohlander said. As many as 11,000 people got the vaccine in those clinics.

The meningococcal vaccine is effective against four of the five groups (Groups A, C, Y and W-135) of bacteria that cause most invasive meningococcal disease. The vaccine is highly protective in the first couple of years after vaccination, according to the health department.

But the effectiveness of the vaccine decreases as time passes, and by five years, protection has dropped to pre-vaccination levels.

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